Choosing Loyalty Wisely

Loyaltyloy·al·tyˈloiəltē/nounthe quality of being loyal to someone or something a strong feeling of support or allegiance

“Commitment means staying loyal to what you said you were going to do long after the mood you said it in has left you” – Unknown

For the Parent::Battle Cry

As we discussed previously, loyalty means commitment. Because loyalty that isn’t kept, isn’t loyalty at all. When you pledge loyalty to something, it should be unconditional. Whether you’ve committed yourself to your family, your spouse, excellence in your job, personal integrity or anything else – let your word be your bond. For this reason, we need to be deliberate and discerning about those values, causes and individuals to whom we pledge our loyalty. Choosing the objects of our loyalty wisely can mean the difference between success and failure in our careers, families, finances or relationships. Helping your Warrior Poet understand this will set a foundation for him to build on as an adult.

For your Son::Call to Arms

Have you ever told someone that you would do something, and then not done it? Unfortunately, we all have. But we must do better than that if we want to live like heroes! If we say we will do something, we should do it – or we shouldn’t say that we will do it at all. When the Warrior Poet promises to be loyal to something, he makes that loyalty his highest priority – even if it isn’t fun or requires him to make sacrifices. Because the Warrior Poet does not make promises lightly, he only pledges loyalty when he means to keep it. Choose wisely who and what you commit to, because you should always keep your word!

Weekend Activity

Make loyalty practical by doing this activity with your Warrior Poet over the weekend. Ask him these questions or similar ones that you’ve come up with. Don’t settle for a one word answer – be sure to ask him why! After discussing these scenarios, explain that sometimes choosing commitments more carefully up front, can make it easier to keep your word later.

You decided at the beginning of the school year that you wanted to do [insert extra-curricular activity here]. After a couple months, you don’t enjoy it as much anymore. Is it ok to quit?

As a Warrior Poet, you’ve committed to be loyal to your friends and to have their backs. Imagine that a good friend of yours wasn’t very nice yesterday and insulted you. However, today you notice that he’s looking down and sitting by himself in the lunch room. What do you do?